Last updated: 29 September 2026
Essentio hands you your data in two downloads: a Business's full archive, and your own personal data. This page describes every file each one holds and, for a spreadsheet, each of its columns. Nothing in them is locked to Essentio: PDF, the EU e-invoice XML, CSV and JSON are open formats that other software reads.
An Owner or an Admin asks for it in Settings → General, on every plan and while Paused. Essentio builds it in the background and emails a link to it, valid for 7 days without signing in. It is one ZIP file holding:
| File | What it holds |
|---|---|
invoices/<number>.pdf |
Every issued Invoice, as a PDF, a cancelled one included |
invoices/<number>.xml |
The same Invoice as EU e-invoice XML (EN 16931, UBL), unless README.txt lists it |
credit-notes/<number>.pdf |
Every issued Credit Note, as a PDF |
credit-notes/<number>.xml |
The same Credit Note as EU e-invoice XML (EN 16931, UBL), unless README.txt lists it |
proforma-invoices/<number>.pdf |
Every issued Proforma Invoice, as a PDF. A Proforma Invoice is not a tax invoice, so it has no XML |
quotes/<number>.pdf |
Every issued Quote, as a PDF. A Quote has no XML either |
receipts/<number>.pdf |
Every Receipt, as a PDF. A voided Receipt says so on its face |
clients.csv |
The Clients, one row each |
payments.csv |
Every Payment, one row each, reversed ones included |
README.txt |
What the archive holds, and each document that has no XML file, with the reason |
<number> is the document's or the Receipt's number. A character other than a letter, a digit, a dot, a hyphen or an underscore, such as the slash a number pattern may hold, is written as an underscore. Drafts are not in the archive: they have no number yet.
The CSV files are UTF-8, comma-separated, with a header row and double quotes around a cell that needs them. Amounts are decimals with a dot, never rounded by the export, and dates are written as YYYY-MM-DD.
Every Client, and every deleted Client that an issued document still names, so that each PDF has its row. It is the same file as Clients → Export → Essentio file, and Clients → Import reads it back.
| Column | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Account Code | The Client's account code |
| Name | The Client's name |
| Legal Name | The Client's legal name |
| The Client's email address | |
| Phone | The Client's phone number |
| Address | The street address |
| City | The city |
| Postal Code | The postal code |
| Country | The country, as a two-letter ISO code |
| VAT Number | The Client's VAT number |
| Currency | The Client's currency, as a three-letter ISO code |
| Payment Terms | The payment terms, in days |
| Notes | Your notes on the Client |
| Is Active | Yes or No |
| Created At | When the Client was created, YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS in UTC |
| Updated At | When the Client was last changed, YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS in UTC |
The import reads the columns from Account Code to Notes; it ignores the last three.
Every Payment recorded on a document, oldest first.
| Column | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Document Number | The number of the Invoice or Proforma Invoice the Payment was recorded on |
| Document Type | Invoice or Proforma Invoice |
| Client | The name of that document's Client |
| Payment Date | The day the money was received |
| Amount | The amount received |
| Currency | The Payment's currency, as a three-letter ISO code |
| Method | How it was paid, as recorded |
| Reference | The payment reference, as recorded |
| Status | completed, or voided for a reversed Payment |
| Receipt Number | The number of the Receipt issued for it, if any |
| Notes | Your notes on the Payment |
Profile → Download my data gives any User their own personal data at once, as one JSON file named essentio-my-data-<date>.json. It holds nothing a Business keeps, such as its documents, Clients or Payments: those are in the Business Archive. Times are ISO 8601 with their offset, and a time that never happened is null.
| Key | What it holds |
|---|---|
profile |
Your name, email address, when it was confirmed, when you signed up, your Appearance, when your Trial ends or ended, and which version of the Terms of Service you accepted and when |
businesses |
Each Business you belong to, a deleted one included: its name, your role and when you joined |
invitations |
Every invitation sent to your address: the Business, the role, when it was sent, when it expires and when it was accepted |
connected_apps |
Every app you connected: the app, the Business, the role you gave it, and when it was connected, last used and ended |
oauth_apps |
Every app you registered as a developer: its name, its redirect addresses, whether it keeps a secret (never the secret itself), when you registered it and accepted the terms, whether it is deleted, and its Webhook's address and events |
complimentary_subscriptions |
Every complimentary plan Essentio gave you: the plan, when it was given, when it ends and when it was revoked |
billing_tax_ids |
The tax IDs you gave when you paid for a plan, such as a VAT number: its type and value, whether it was verified, the name and address the tax register holds for it, and when you gave it |
partner_applications |
Every application you made to become a Partner: its status, your practice, your note, your personal link, and when you applied, were approved and when the partnership ended |
downloaded_at |
When you downloaded the file |
The file holds no password, key or secret, and nothing about another person, not even who invited you.